


are you even paying attention?

by nessismore



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Shopping, Tumblr Prompt, i read too many romance novels and watch too many romcoms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-24
Updated: 2013-03-14
Packaged: 2017-11-26 17:35:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/652745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nessismore/pseuds/nessismore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Steve grumbles while Darcy shops for dresses, goes on a date, and comes to a realization.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For melifair, who prompted "Darcy drags Steve shopping."
> 
> And then this sort of ran away from me.
> 
> Unbeta'd. Apologies for any mistakes.

"You said we were getting ice cream," Steve said accusingly, stopping so abruptly that a couple barreled into his back. The man cursed at him, and Darcy flipped him off before turning back to a very unhappy Steve. “You lied." 

Darcy grabbed his hand and tried to tug him into the department store, but he resisted, glowering at her as she gave him her most winning smile. "We are getting ice cream. Later. Shopping first."

"Darcy, you know I don't like shopping."

She did know, and felt a little guilty for misleading him, but she was desperate. “I’m sorry, but you're always so helpful!" She tugged again, but he didn't budge. “Like when you came furniture shopping with me. You picked out a lot of great stuff.”

“Because I knew I was going to have to put it together,” Steve grumbled.

“You’re the one who volunteered! Anyway, what about the time you went with me to buy my car? I never would have gotten that price if you hadn't done your whole 'Captain America disapproves of your snake oil ways' face."

"I don't have a face for that,” Steve protested.

Darcy laughed and patted his hand. "Steve, honey, you have a 'Captain America disapproves' face for everything. But it's endearing. And anyway, it was useful."

He quirked a brow at her. “I know a lot’s changed in 70 years, but I’m pretty sure you still can’t haggle down prices at department stores.”

Darcy elected to ignore that. Instead she sent him a pleading look. “Please? I need your help.”

He sighed, and she smiled in delight. She knew she’d won. “What do you need?”

“I need help picking a dress.”

He looked at her skeptically. “You want me to give you fashion advice?”

“Dude, _no_.” This time, when she tugged on his hand, he came with her and she led him to the dress section. “But all the other ladies are busy, so I can’t ask them for help. But you’re a guy that I trust not to leer and make overly inappropriate comments, and you know what you think looks good on a girl. I just need you to sit there and tell me if you’d take me in a manly fashion were you not wed.”

“What?” 

Darcy smiled at the little furrow in his brow, resisting the urge to smooth it down. “Just sit there and tell me if I look pretty or not.”

Without missing a beat, Steve said, “You’re pretty.”

“Smart ass.” She smacked him playfully on the arm, enjoying the warmth that always filled her when she was with Steve.

He looked down, a small smile on his lips. “Just practicing.”

“Yeah, well I think you’ve got that one down.” She led him to the dressing room area and pushed him towards the arm chairs near the dressing room doors. “You can sit here while I pick out stuff.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted smartly, and she rolled her eyes as she hurried to go rustle up some likely candidates. 

—

“If this were a teen movie, this would be the montage where I try on dresses and strike flirty poses while you look on like I’m adorable, all to the tune of some maniacally happy indie pop.” Steve looked up as Darcy poked her head out of the dressing room. “Zip me up, will you?” 

Without waiting for an answer, she threw the door open and turned her back to him, holding the dress up in the front, the back laid open like an invitation. Steve felt the temperature in the room rise several degrees. He swallowed hard.

His fingers felt clumsy and huge on the tiny zipper, and they brushed the soft skin of her back. She shivered, or he did, and he cleared his throat. “Maniacally?” he asked in order to distract himself.

She looked at him over her shoulder. “You’ve never seen a ‘90s or early 2000s romantic comedy, have you?”

He laughed as he finished zipping the dress, and stepped away. “No, and there’s no need to offer to watch them with me.”

“Spoilsport.” She turned around and crossed her arms. But there was a smile on her lips, and he felt one tugging at his own lips in response.

“I’m shopping with you aren’t I?” And he really hated shopping. For her though, he’d suffer through it.

“Point.” Her grin was lopsided as she put her hands on her hips. “You’re a stand up guy, Rogers.”

“I live to serve.” He had a feeling his own smile was decidedly dopey and he tried not to be embarrassed about it.

Darcy held her arms out to the side and did a little twirl. “So what do you think of this dress?”

“You’re pretty,” he said dutifully.

Darcy scowled at him. “Seriously.” 

“You really do look pretty. It’s just…”

“What?”

“You remind me of a cupcake.” The yellow dress was short and fluffy at the bottom, and something about it just made him think of butter cake. With the dress, her dark hair looked like a dollop of chocolate icing, and he thought she looked delicious, although he wasn’t going to tell her _that._ Given the way she wrinkled her nose, cupcake was not what he was going for. Without a word, she turned her back to him and he unzipped her, then she went into the dressing room to try on another dress.

The next few were nice, too, but he couldn’t help but think of creme brulée, red velvet, and blueberry cheesecake. When she came out again and he compared the dress to raspberry sorbet, Darcy put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

“Are you even paying attention, or are you just hungry?”

He shrugged. “When you dragged me out, you promised me ice cream.” The truth of it was, though, he was paying attention. Particularly to the way the neckline of this dress dipped down between her breasts, emphasizing the shape of them. He snapped his gaze back up, but she had been examining the hemline of this dress, and hadn’t noticed him staring.

 “You don’t like it?”

“I like raspberry sorbet.” When she kicked him, he laughed and said, “And, like all of the other ones, you look amazing in it. But I think I like this one best. I’d like to draw you twirling in it.”

She beamed then, and did a little pirouette. “Okay. I like this one, too. I have one more, though, and then it’s ice cream time. I promise.” She flounced back into the dressing room, and for the first time that afternoon, it occurred to him to wonder what the dress was for. He made a note to himself to ask Darcy when she came back out.

He looked up a few minutes later as she stepped out of the dressing room, and promptly forgot how to breathe. She was wearing a muted gold short-sleeve mini dress that hugged her figure like a second skin. He thought he might have swallowed his tongue.

“What do you think?”

It took him a moment to find his voice. “Wow,” was all he could say.

She smiled brightly and brushed her hair over her shoulder. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah,” he said meaningfully.

She turned to look at herself in the mirror. “So I think this is the one, then.”

“Yeah,” he repeated, because he was having a ridiculously difficult time getting his brain to form any other syllable. He kept looking at her in that dress, wondering which event she was wearing that to, and he imagined asking her to dance, twirling her around the dance floor, his hand playing over the exposed skin on her back, pulling her closer and closer…

And then Steve’s brain stopped working for an entirely different reason. “That’s exactly the reaction I was hoping for! I think my date is going to love this.”

“Date?” he choked out. “I thought this was for some kind of event?”

“No, I’ve got a date tomorrow night. Fancy dinner and a show. Thanks so much for helping out, Steve!” she darted back into the dressing room, leaving Steve reeling and feeling a tightness in his chest that was a combination of disappointment, jealousy, and foolishness because he’d hoped…well, all visions of dancing with Darcy went up in smoke. 

When Darcy came out with the gold dress draped over her arm, paid for the dress, and turned to smile brightly at him. “Ice cream?”

He shook his head, stammered an excuse about being needed back at SHIELD, and avoided brushing his fingers against hers on the silent walk back.

\---

This had been the worst idea ever. Darcy sat at the restaurant, trying to remember Pepper’s etiquette lesson to avoid slumping in her seat. Listening to Paul drone on and on about how awesome he was was just really distracting her from enjoying one of _the_ best steaks she’d ever had. Of course, it was also one of the most expensive, and she was already plotting ways to convince Tony and/or Pepper to get this place to provide the food for all their fancy pants events. Or to con Tony into taking her and the others here like, once a month. Because this was melt in your mouth good, but oh my God, Paul was still talking.

Jane told her that this was a bad idea. Pepper told her this was a bad idea. Bruce had politely suggested that maybe she should reconsider her decision to agree to a date with very first guy that had overtly expressed romantic interest in her in six months (eight, if you didn’t count Clint drunkenly trying to whisper sweet nothings in her ear in order to win a bet with Natasha). She didn’t listen, though, because painful as it was to admit, she’d been flattered, and oh God that made her sound desperate. She hadn’t even been all that into Paul to begin with, so what kind of person did that make her? Besides a bored one.

Dress shopping with Steve had been infinitely more fun, even if he’d been weird about it on the way back. 

Poor Steve, she thought, picking at the skirt of her dress. She hadn’t even worn the dress. For some reason, this morning she’d looked at that beautiful gold dress and decided that she didn’t want wear it out with Paul. Instead, she’d hung it up in her closet and went back and bought the one Steve had likened to raspberry sorbet. She didn’t know why. The gold one had gotten the exact reaction she’d wanted when Steve had seen her. That look in his eyes had sent a thrill of pleasure shooting through her, and…

Oh.

Well, shit. Her world cracked for a moment, then realigned in a way that suddenly made sense.

All the times she’d called him up to help her solve a problem, when someone else was nearer at hand and might have had a better solution. The way he was always the first one she went to when she was upset. The way that he was always the brightest part of her day and the way that just being with him filled her with warmth.

And then her date lurched to lean over the table and stuff his tongue in her mouth.

Double shit.

\---

Steve found himself sitting in the common area. He told himself he was not waiting for Darcy because he didn’t even know what time her date was. No, he was just sitting there, reading a book. 

“Capsicle.” 

Steve stifled a sigh. “Tony.”

“What, no exasperated look? No witty rejoinder?” Steve shot him a baleful glare. “That’s much better. Waiting to catch a glimpse of Lewis before she heads out?”

“No.” But he could feel the blush creeping up his neck. He held up the novel in his lap. “I’m reading a book.”

“I’d believe that if it weren’t upside down.”

Startled, Steve looked down, then glared again as Tony chuckled. “It’s not.”

“I know. And had you actually been reading, you’d have known it, too.”

Tony walked over to the bar. “Drink?” Steve shook his head and Tony shrugged, pouring himself one. “Since you’re not waiting for Lewis, I guess it wouldn’t matter that she left over an hour ago.”

Steve’s shoulders slumped. “Oh.”

Tony blinked at him. “Why do I just feel like I kicked a puppy?” When Steve scowled, Tony took a sip of his drink. “A very grumpy puppy. I guess that means you didn’t see her before she left. She looked _hot._ ”

“I know,” Steve said glumly, closing his book. “I helped her pick the dress.”

“Poor bastard. You’re still letting her drag you wherever she wants to go? Of course you are.” Tony plopped down in the armchair across from Steve. The pair sat in silence for a long while until Tony finally said, “If it’s any consolation, Jane mentioned that Darcy doesn’t usually—make the beast with two backs on the first date.”

“Jesus,” Steve muttered, uncomfortable because he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to hear about this. “Jane mentioned this to you?”

”She mentioned it to Pepper. Which, essentially, is the same thing.”

“And Pepper told you?”

“No, but they were talking and I was in earshot, so really, it’s like they wanted me to know.”

Steve opened his mouth to answer when a voice cut in. “Tony, no one ever wants you to know.” Steve was surprised when Darcy entered the room in a flurry of pink skirts. She plopped down on the couch next to Steve. “But what are we talking about here?”

Steve sat up straighter when Tony, with an unholy gleam in his eyes, looked like he was about to answer. To his relief, Tony just asked, “So…date was that good, huh?”

Darcy rolled her eyes. “He certainly thought he was. He was getting too insistent about getting to dessert before the show. So I ditched him and came back here. Not that he was getting any raspberry sorbet, tonight or ever.”

Tony chuckled and tossed back the rest of his drink. “That’s what you get for saying yes to the first guy who’s asked you out in what? Six months?”

“You don’t know that—“ Tony raised his eyebrows at her, and Steve watched in interest as a blush stained her cheeks. “How did you know that? Don’t you have somewhere else you need to be?”

“No.”

She ignored him and turned to Steve. There was a look in her eyes that he hadn’t seen before, and something about it sent a fluttery, nervous feeling straight through his stomach. “So I still owe you ice cream. Wanna go?”

“I’d love to,” Tony said. Darcy glared at him.

“You’re not invited.”

“Are you changing?” Steve asked. Not that he wanted her to. She looked wonderful, even if he wondered what happened to the other dress.

“Nah. I shelled out for this dress, so I’m going to enjoy the hell out of it.”

He looked down at his usual plaid shirt and khakis. He felt woefully shabby in comparison to her. “Do I need to change?”

“Nah. Let’s just go. See you, Tony.” And as usual, she dragged, he followed, and he was more than okay with that.


	2. careful confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Darcy works up the courage to just get it out there.

They walked to the ice cream parlor in silence, but this one was infinitely more comfortable then the one yesterday after she bought her dress. After she’d made a few realizations about herself—and really, terrible dates were the best times for epiphanies—all of her interactions with Steve suddenly made so much more sense to her. It just seemed imperative that she talk to him about this _now,_ and she hoped that what she had to say to him wouldn’t ruin everything.

Steve broke the silence. “I’m sorry your date didn’t work out.”

Darcy smiled faintly. “I’m not. It was never going to work anyway. What Tony said hit a little too close for comfort.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Paul was the first guy who asked me out in over six months,” she said with a self-deprecating laugh. “He’s the first guy who’s shown romantic interest in me in a year. I was starting to feel like I was losing my mojo, you know? I mean, I’m not some femme fatale who gets hit on all the damn time, but you kind of notice when people express interest, you know?”

“Yeah.” And she knew he did, because, hello—Captain America aside, he was hot, and just walking down the street with him, she saw at least four women and three men expressing interest with their eyes. She sent her most intimidating glare to a woman who looked like she was about to try and stop them and engage Steve in conversation. 

“But in the past few months, I haven’t noticed anyone noticing me. That was really brought home when Paul asked me out. And I was flattered and I said yes, even though I wasn’t all that interested in him to begin with.” Darcy toyed with the fabric of her skirt. “Which, I guess, wasn’t fair of me at all. Not that it excuses him for his absolutely asshole-ish behavior.”

“Why didn’t you wear the dress?” 

Darcy was startled by the abrupt change in subject, but she guessed this was as good as any transition into what she had to say next. She took a deep breath.

“So I realize I’ve been an idiot.”

Steve cocked his head to the side, an adorably confused expression on his face. “About the dress?”

“That’s part of it. I didn’t really think about why, but this morning when I was looking at that really awesome dress, I didn’t want to wear it with Paul. Which…is probably stupid because it’s just a dress and it doesn’t even mean anything but I went out and got a different dress anyway. And really, that should have clued me in. But I ignored it, and I ignored Jane when she said that the reason I hadn’t noticed any other dudes noticing me was because all of my focus was on someone else. Of course, the _who_ took a little time to figure out.” She stopped to take a breath. 

Steve grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop. He turned her to face him, but she refused to meet his eyes. “Darcy, what are you trying to say?”

“I was sitting with Paul in this alternate really awesome dress and I kept thinking how it had been so much more fun shopping with you than it was sitting with him in a ridiculously fancy restaurant—killer food, by the way.” 

“Darce.” She sighed and let her fingers play over his where they still held on to her hand.

“So anyway, Jane said that sometimes when you meet a person, you tend to stop actively noticing people until someone else stands up and makes you look at them. Which is what Paul did, and I was flattered so I went out with him. Again, not my finest moment. But I’d already met this guy and he was awesome and wonderful and he let me boss him around—“

“Are you sure that’s not why you like him? Because he lets you boss him around?” 

He sounded a little worried, and Darcy looked up for the first time since the start of her extended monologue. His eyes were bright, joyful, and her heart suddenly felt lighter as she grinned up at him. “Bruce lets me boss him around sometimes, and I definitely have no desire to have this conversation with him.”

He grinned back. “Good. Tell me more about this amazing guy of yours.”

“I really, really like you, Steve.”

His smile lit up his entire face and her own face felt like it was going to split from her answering one. He trailed his fingers up her arm, touching her tentatively, as if he was afraid she’d vanish if he was any firmer. She shivered.

“I guess this is the part where I’d offer you my jacket, but I forgot it,” he said ruefully.

“I’ve got a better idea, anyway.” Darcy stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his in a chaste kiss. Or it was supposed to be, but pulled her tightly into his arms and deepened the kiss, his tongue slipping into her mouth and teasing hers, until they both had to come up for air.

“That is a better idea,” he said before kissing her again.


End file.
